COMMENTARY | According to a recent Money article, the 2012 presidential candidates are worth more than I will make in my lifetime. In fact, several of them are worth more than me and all my friends will make in our collective lifetimes. Mitt Romney, for example, is worth $85 million to $264 million, according to the report. Barack Obama, who earns $400,000 a year for the presidential gig, is worth $2.8 million to $11.8 million.
Now don't get me wrong. I actually don't fault these people for their wealth. It appears they've earned degrees and have had some great success for what they've attempted in life and that's admirable. What I do wonder, though, is how that sort of money affects the representation that can give to a whole lot of people who will never know even a fraction of that amount of money?
How does, for example, someone like Jon Huntsman -- whose father, according to the article, had so much money that he could afford to give away more than a billion dollars -- go out and say he really understands the plight of those in the unemployment line? How does he speak to military members who joined the service so that they could pay for college? How does Rick Santorum, with rental properties worth up to $1.25 million, wake up and represent those who are facing foreclosure? How does Obama? Or even Rick Perry, the lowest on the list of rich candidates?
On the other hand, there's no easy answer. I can hardly imagine the president trying to look presidential in a 20-year-old pickup, with discount store shoes and mismatched luggage. Perhaps, just as it takes money to make money, it also takes money to represent those who have less. It just makes me wonder, with every statement these guys make about how they feel our pain, they understand, they want to get "us" working again -- do they really?
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